The One With White Hair
by Wanttobeawriter
Summary: A new criminal has arrived in the Seireitei, and Squad Ten are targeted.  What will their young captain do to capture them?  Will he hesitate?  Read to find out...
1. Chapter 1: The Encounter

"Capture the intruder!"  
>"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya"<p>

The squad members ran in front of their superior to the hooded figure desperately trying to escape. Just as they caught up to the intruder, the figure span around, and threw well aimed punches, landing most, and even knocking some members unconscious.

"Stop where you are!"  
>The figure froze. The last member of squad ten fell to the ground at their feet. It was surprising; the hooded figure was very small in build, no taller than a child<em>. <em>The next words were reinforced by the sharp ring of a sword being unsheathed. "Move no further, you are under arrest for thievery!" Two members that had avoided the desperate punches appeared beside the now prisoner and restrained their arms.

Captain Hitsugaya strode quite purposefully towards the trembling figure. "Now let's have a look at that face" he reached to flick the hood of the cloak back. It should have come as no surprise that the prisoner was not one to give up easy. A well performed kick made a sharp contact with the reaching arm of Captain Hitsugaya, but after many years of training, he didn't stop to look at his injury, he pulled back the hood, much more aggressively than he first intended too.

Bronze hair tumbled down and hung in a veil in front of the thief's' face. It was no surprise for a thief to be a girl. All the years in Junrinon had taught Toshiro that. A thief was a thief, most were look for food for their families. This thief was no different. She'd been caught trying to steal a bag of rice from Squad Ten's food stock. "She's to be locked in the barrack's prison until I decide on her sentence". The thief didn't react to any of his words, just stood there; head hung low, hair veiling her face. Most criminals stood with their heads up, chins out, showing their defiance to the 13 Court Guard Squads. "Look at the captain!" said one the members, pulling the girls' head back roughly. The Squad standing behind the captain let out a noise that sounded like disgust. All the captain could do was stare. Stare straight in to the blood red eyes of the girl.

"The criminal has been placed in the holding cell as you asked sir!" The squad member bowed curtly and walked from his office. It had been a long day. There was still the matter of the criminal, then the paperwork that followed. "I'd say it's time to visit this thief" he said to no one in particular. The Squad had whispered all the way back to the barracks. All were discussing the girl with red eyes. All of them were totally horrified by her.

He walked into his squads' prison. Luckily, it stayed empty for most of the year, but, like all the squads, it was needed for occasions such as this. Captain Hitsugaya walked to the end of the hallway. The new occupant sat in the corner, cloak still wrapped around her shoulders, and her long, bronze hair brushed the wooden floor. She stared out the barred window at the crescent moon. He sat down on the chair placed on the other side of the bars to her cell. She looked around at him with wary eyes. "What do you want from me?" her voice rang down the silent hallway.

"I'd like an explanation" the girl tensed at his first words, but relaxed after, "as to why you felt the need to steal from my food stocks". She looked at him so their eyes were locked, he didn't flinch away from the look. "I needed food, this was the closest place that had it, that's all, so I'll wait through my sentence, and then I'll just get on my way" she said, her tone cold. But she didn't look away from him. Most people did. Toshiro Hitsugaya wasn't normal looking. His hair was pure white, naturally, and the fact his eyes were bright turquoise didn't help people accept him either. He noticed his squad, with the exception of his lieutenant, didn't look at him directly for more than 10 seconds, as if afraid something bad may come of it.

It was obvious that this girl had received the same cruel treatment as he had growing up. "I'll be willing to let you out tomorrow, on the condition that you don't steal from any squad stocks again" The girl nodded, "That is a reasonable request". He stood up to leave, but the girls' hand stopped him. He looked around to see her standing. "You move very quickly" he commented. "Well, yeah, Flash step tends to be, well, as quick as a flash" she said, very unjokingly, despite her comment. Toshiro stared coldly. "How do you know the secret of flash step? Only Soul Reapers are able to do it properly". The next thing he knew, the girl was holding his wrist, standing on the other side of the bars with him.

"You may have a reasonable request, but I'm a very impatient person, _Captain_ Hitsugaya, so I think I'll just be leaving now" she scoffed 'Captain' as if he was unworthy of the title, this always got under Toshiro's skin, he may be child like in appearance, but he had earned his haori fair and square. "Only if you can get past me" he said, unable to reach for his sword, due to her grip on his right wrist. "Fine, but if I win, I go, deal?" she said, tightening her fingers. "Deal"

Her grip disappeared. As did she. But Toshiro was not one to be underestimated. He could see her footsteps, and followed. She led him out to the garden, and turned to face him. Her red eyes glowed under the moonlight, and her hair rippled with the cool breeze of evening. "For your sake thief, I hope we never meet again"  
>The girl giggled. "You underestimate me Captain Hitsugaya. Just because you wear a haori and wield a Zanpakutō, doesn't mean we're not evenly matched" before Toshiro could respond, the "Shriiing!" of a sword met his ears. The thief was armed. He responded, pulling his Zanpakutō from the sheath that hung on his back. He preferred to wear it this way, as his Hyourinmaru was actually bigger than him.<p>

He looked to the girls' weapon. It was no shabby sword. She wielded a Zanpakutō, how, he didn't know. "I thought only soul reapers could use a Zanpakutō!" Toshiro said, eyeing her sword with curiosity. "Not when you're a prodigy!" she yelled, charging at him with a look of battle in her red eyes. The captain was rooted to the spot. She was a prodigy too. He didn't think it was possible. He knew that he had been the one that would take on the most powerful ice element Zanpakutō, but he never knew of any others.

His train of thought was interrupted by the clash of swords. Close up, he noticed the blade was a slight off colour. All Zanpakutō he'd seen had been silver, this, on the other hand had a golden tinge to the blade. But before he could examine it anymore, the blade disappeared and reappeared in another attack. _She can fight_, thought the captain as he slowly began analysing his opponent's movements. She moved fast, but there was no grace, the movements were rough, and obviously had had poor instruction.

"I think you should pick up your fighting skill, Captain. I'm quite interested in seeing your bankai" the girl moved back from her attacking position to one a few metres away. "You want to see my bankai? That's quite an ask, thief. I don't use my bankai for just anyone" he said, masking the initial surprise he had of her knowledge of the second release. "But since you asked so nicely..." he looked to his sword, then back to the thief girl, "Ban...kai!" The cool evening breeze suddenly changed to one of freezing winds. "Daiguren, Hyourinmaru!"

The thief was amazed. The captain's bankai was more than she'd expected. He emerged, with elements of what looked like an ice dragon. Frozen wings spread from his back, and the body of the dragon ran down his right arm, to where the teeth of the beast held his sword. Three purple, four leaved flowers hung above his head, probably an indicator of time of how long he could remain in this form. She grinned. This was going to be a lot more fun than she'd first thought.

"Impressive, Captain. I have to admit, you're much more powerful than I gave you credit for" her taunting voice pierced the now close to freezing air. What was more; the intruder seemed unbothered by it. "Now it's my turn! Bankai!" as the last word left her lips, flames seemingly burst from the ground, rising up over the girls' head. "Sōdaina, Nenshōtori!" The captain had to shade his eyes with one arm as the heat and light grew more intense. As the light faded, a shape emerged from the dying flames.

A golden robe covered her body, her hair looked like flame, and above her left eye, a black tattoo had appeared. Her blade rippled like the colours of fire, and took the shape of a bird's wing. What was more impressive was her spiritual pressure. The increase in power was astonishing. She looked purely terrifying. Now, she looked like she was fire herself.

Without uttering a single word, flames leapt at the unsuspecting captain. Luckily for him, his element was ice, and he deflected the attack with a simple wall. But, he underestimated these flames. They were controlled by a prodigy child. Not even the fire that burst from the Head Captain's Zanpakutō, Rujjin Jakka, could compare to the ones of Nenshōtori.

A smirk grew across the face of the girl, as the flames crept up the ice barrier, seemingly unaffected by it. A crease appeared between the young captains' brows as he watched the flames scale his wall with ease. "Who are you?" Toshiro asked, only just managing to keep the tone of his voice from sounding desperate. The smirk turned into a grin as she said: "My name is Kaya. Kaya Ritsuko." And with that, Toshiro's world went black.


	2. Chapter 2: Fire From Within

Chapter 2

"Captain!"  
>Toshiro's eyes fluttered open to the sound of his lieutenants' voice.<p>

"Rangiku... What happened?"  
>He sat up slowly, eyes carefully analysing his surroundings. He was in his barracks, still dressed in his soul reaper uniform, with his haori folded on the end of his bed, Hyourinmaru lying on top. He let out a sigh of relief. At least this Kaya character had left him in one piece.<p>

"You were unconscious sir, I found you lying in the middle of the courtyard"  
>The captain cursed. Then he felt his eyes widen.<br>"Where's the prisoner?"

His lieutenants' head dropped.  
><em>That's just perfect<em>.

"I better go find her then"  
>Toshiro sat up slowly to avoid that spinning feeling that one gets when they sit up too fast. He reached for his haori and his Zanpakutō, and felt a sense of relief as the presence of his sword returned.<p>

"Rangiku, look after the squad today. I'll search for the thief. Send a message to the Head Captain that a criminal has escaped, and is not to be approached by anyone below captain level"  
>Toshiro was determined, and Matsumoto knew that even the Head Captain wouldn't try to stop him finding this particular thief, not only had they stolen food, they'd stolen the Captain's pride. <p>

_Stop. It's okay. You can take a break_  
>Kaya felt her stride falter, she'd been running for hours on end, not stopping, not even turning around. She'd only narrowly beaten the small captain, and didn't want to cross paths with him. But he was a Soul Reaper, and Soul Reapers had their pride to uphold or some nonsense like that. She knew he would come after her.<p>

She slowed her pace until her footfalls were almost silent on the damp grass. A large log lay in the grass; it was hollow, and long enough for her to take cover. Kaya gathered herself and crawled into the log. _I'm only going to nap for a while..._

The smell of smoke woke Kaya from her sleep. _Not again... _She opened her eyes. The entire log was on fire. This woke her up. The heat along with the smoke started to become overwhelming. Her senses were smothered by the flames. She felt her heart begin to race, and panic began to creep into her mind. She took a deep breath, which was a mistake. Smoke filled her lungs, slowly suffocating her. A croak left her lips as she tried to call out. _Please, someone help me. _Her mind called out. Even Nenshōtori couldn't help her in this situation. Her sight started to blur, and her limbs felt heavy. She couldn't move. "Reign over the frosted heavens!" Before Kaya could look at the one who saved her, she fainted.

Toshiro could smell the smoke. He saw the grey smoke rising from the forest. He needed to act. If the fire spread, it could endanger the spirits living in the town nearby. He ran through the forest. All the trees began to blur as he ran faster and faster. He reached the source of the smoke. A dead log was covered in flames. As he went to douse the flames, he hesitated. Something was wrong. He felt his eyes widen. Someone was in there. He practically tore Hyourinmaru from his back. "Reign over the frosted heavens!" The shikai form of his Zanpakutō burst from the tip of the blade.

The small Captain waited until the flames were small enough before he approached the smouldering log. He found the spirit curled up in a cloak. Somehow the whole scene seemed familiar, but right now, the spirit curled up in his arms was his main concern. He lay the small child down on the ground. He undid the string holding the cloak around their shoulders.

He was taken aback. It was the criminal! She seems physically unharmed. But smoke inhalation didn't show any outward symptoms until the affected person wakes up, and by then it can be too late. For once, the captain of squad ten didn't know what to do. He looked at the face of the girl. Her eyes were shut tightly, but her breathing was getting easier as time passed. Toshiro was surprised that she hadn't sustained any major injuries. _That aside... is she breathing out smoke?_ The girl puzzled him. She lay there perfectly still, and yet grey vapours left her nostrils and mouth. It was as if she was a slumbering dragon. When the smoke breathing began to subside, Kaya shuddered, and opened her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3: True Form

Chapter 3: True Form

_Ugh my head…  
><em>Not only did Kaya have a headache, she a had a pain in the ass.  
>The pain took the form of the squad ten captain. <p>

"What are you starin' at short ass?"

The boy looked around at her, with a look of extreme irritation.

_That obviously hit a nerve_.

"Watch who's calling who short ass" he replied.  
>Kaya could tell he was holding back his obvious irritation at her attitude, but she was used to it. Basically, she was trying to piss the guy off, so he'd challenge her again, she was itching for a rematch.<p>

_At this rate, I'm going to have to come up with something much better than these insults._

_The sheer nerve of this girl…_

Toshiro was getting sick of the girls' taunting and name calling, that's all she'd done since opening her eyes.

"I didn't need your help"

He looked up at the girl. Instead of looking grateful, she looked… annoyed.  
>"Oh yeah? Well the smoldering log says something different" Toshiro nodded in the direction of what was left of a… hideout? Well, whatever it was, all that remained was ash.<p>

He couldn't help but smile at her facial expression, a look of sheer desperation crossed her face.

Unfortunately, Toshiro missed the grin that appeared after he'd looked away. "At least I didn't get beaten by a girl"  
><em>Bulls eye!<em>

Kaya felt something a lot like satisfaction when the boy captain jumped to his feet, sword unsheathed and with a look that would scare most people. _But lucky for me, I'm not most people._ _  
><em>The satisfaction grew when she felt Nenshōtori in her hands again.

"Oh, sorry. Did I say something to insult you?"  
>Being sarcastic and annoying were two of Kaya's favourite activities, as well as this, she had a very short temper and almost no patience. Toshiro had witnessed all of this first hand, and now he was about to find out just how mean she could get.<p>

"That's enough thief! I've had it with all this immature name calling, you ungrateful little pest!"

_Now she's going to feel just how cold ice can be_.

"Bankai. Daiguren, Hyourinmaru!"  
><em>My sudden release of Bankai must have surprised her.<em>  
>Surprised her it had. The girl's eyes widened as she looked over his Bankai.<p>

"Again, I have to say your Zanpakutō is impressive, little boy"  
>Toshiro felt his eyes narrow at the last comment. "Can a little boy do this?" he asked as he flung an ice dragon at her.<p>

_No way…_  
>Toshiro watched as his dragon, one of his most powerful attacks, was completely consumed by a… phoenix.<br>"You know, I never did show you the true form of my Bankai, did I?"  
>He felt his teeth clench together. <em>What is this power? She said she was a prodigy, but what exactly did she mean?<em>

"So that bird was your Bankai?"

He saw a smirk cross her face.  
>"You bet, now watch, little boy, as it's fire melts your ice!"<br>She swung her wing shaped sword, and a bird swooped towards Toshiro.

_I've got him this time._

Kaya was confident in herself and Nenshōtori, as a team, they could beat this puny pain in the ass.  
>As the flames died down, she could just make out the shape of the squad ten captain. She walked over, unconcerned by the smoldering grass surrounding the unconscious boy. <em>He's certainly strong, but he has a long way to go before…<em>  
>No, now wasn't the time to think about that. She pulled the white haired captain up from the ground, slung him over her shoulder and made for a new place, Soul Reapers would start to swarm, after feeling the spiritual pressure of them both.<p>

_This will do._  
>She looked around the clearing before gently placing the boy on a green patch of grass, a rarity in this area. <em>I'm going to have to heal him. I can't take him in this condition to…<em> Her thoughts cut off as a small whimper made it's way from the boy captain's lips. He was in a pretty bad condition, his Shihakushō and Haori were badly burned, as well as many parts of his skin. _Maybe I was too rough... Pfft, no way, he wouldn't have gone easy on me. _ She pulled off his Haori and Kosode, both were badly singed. His Hakama, luckily was unaffected. Undressing an unconscious person, especially a guy, was uncomfortable. Kaya felt her cheeks burn, and she began treating his chest wounds.

"Ah, done!"  
>Kaya looked over her work with a smile. She'd treated all of the kid captain's burns, and managed to repair the burned material, although, she'd had to trim the edges that were singed, so if the boy asked as to why his Haori was shorter, she'd play dumb.<p>

_I don't even know his first name…_

The thought caught Kaya by surprise. She hadn't really gone into details with this guy. She knew he was Captain Hitsugaya, but that was only because she'd heard the other Soul Reapers call him that. "But is he the right one?"

"The right one for what?"

Kaya felt her eyes widen.

Looking at the boy, his eyes were open, he hadn't moved otherwise.  
><em>His eyes… They're so… <em>  
>"Never mind, just get back to sleep, idiot"<p>

Toshiro had woken up, lying on his back, shirtless, and had no idea where he was.

He looked up to see the girl sitting next to him, she seemed to be deep in thought. That image had been interrupted by "But is he the right one?"  
><em>Is she talking about me?<em>

His mouth had moved before he could stop the words  
>"The right one for what?" <p>

She looked at him, her red eyes focused on him.  
>"Never mind, just get back to sleep idiot"<p>

_Great, now she's calling me idiot_

He went to sit up, but a warm hand pushed him back down onto the grass.

"Don't push yourself short ass"  
><em>That's even worse than idiot…<em>

"Can you quit it with the insults and name calling? How old are you, five?"

His sudden outburst obviously surprised her.

"Whatever… Just don't move around to much, you'll hurt yourself"

Kaya was intrigued, and extremely curious. She'd never really come into much contact with other people. But even she knew that this guy stood out.  
><em>Well yeah, he has pure white hair and weird teal green eyes.<em>

"You never told me your name"  
>The kid looked at her, one white eyebrow raised.<br>"I hope you didn't assume it was something like short ass or idiot"  
>"You never know, it could have been…"<p>

"My name's Toshiro Hitsugaya" He said, eyes narrowing.  
>"Well alright, Toshiro Hitsugaya. It's time for us to talk"<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: in progress! Sorry,

The next chapter will be up by next week tops!  
>Any suggestions? Shoot me a message or write a review<br>Thanks for reading! 

- Wanttobeawriter


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